How the Communist Party of China has responded to party chief and president Xi Jinping's exhortation to strengthen, renew and reinvigorate itself.

“To forge iron, one must be strong.” When President and party chief Xi Jinping first referred to this idiom in 2012, it was highlighted both within the country and around the world. Five years on, what has the Communist Party of China (CPC) done to make itself stronger to help the Chinese people lead a better life?

Faith as a calcium supplement to the mind

Ideology and faith are like calcium for communists’ minds. We must strengthen ideological and political construction, and establish a correct world view, view of life and value set, which can act as a master switch.

President Xi addressing a videophone conference on plans for the second batch of the “mass line” campaign on 20 January 2014.

Huang Danian, a famous scientist who died at 58, is a latest role model that party members and people look up to for inspiration.

Huang, known for his expertise in deep earth exploration technology, studied and worked in the United Kingdom for 18 years before returning to China in 2009. In the ensuing years, he helped China soar in a number of technical fields, transforming the nation into one of the world’s leaders in deep earth exploration.

Wasting no time, Huang was holed up in his office working day and night, with only two to three hours’ sleep a day, earning him the title of “workaholic”. Overtime working wrecked his health and he died of bile duct cancer on 8 January.

President Xi has asked all to learn from Huang’s patriotism, professional dedication, indifference to fame and wealth, and fulfilling duties faithfully.

All grown up: right, Meng Rouyu, now a junior high-school girl, on 7 May 2017; and as a young child on 16 July 2012 in Nongyong village in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous RegionCredit:
Xinhua

‘Driving in nails’ spirit

We should embrace the 'driving in nails' spirit. We must diligently work and persist until the job is done. We must have the resolve and patience to follow the blueprint to the end and not start with a bang and end with a whimper or give up halfway through without finishing the job.

Xi addressing the second plenary session of the 18th CPC national congress.

Thanks to its perseverance, resolve and the spirit of driving in nails, the CPC has succeeded in turning China into the world’s second-biggest economy, the biggest trader of goods and the third-largest direct foreign investor, lifting China’s per capita GDP to close to $8,000.

Since the 18th national congress of the CPC, China has lifted on average 10 million rural people out of poverty every year from 2013 to 2016. The total number of people lifted out of poverty in rural and urban areas during the period was more than 55.64 million.

As a percentage of China’s total population, the number of poor people dropped from 10.2 per cent in 2012 to 4.5 per cent in 2016. Incomes in poverty-stricken areas rose more than the national average increased.

The CPC leadership

China’s success hinges on the CPC… to do a good job of governing the country, we must first do a good job of governing the CPC, and that means governing it strictly.

Xi addressing a ceremony marking the 95th anniversary of the CPC’s founding.

The CPC has 89.45 million members, and grassroots party units have increased to 4.52 million, according to a communiqué published before the 96th anniversary of the party’s founding on 1 July.

The growth rate of CPC membership has dropped while the structure of its members has improved since 2013 when the party implemented a recruitment rule that stressed the quality of members while limiting the quantity.

Keys to success: villagers using the e-government service in Suning, in the northern Chinese province of Hebei, on 2 June 2016. Credit:
Xinhua

Thorough clean-up of undesirable work style

Party officials should “look into the mirror, straighten the attire, take a bath and seek remedies”. [This metaphorically refers to a requirement of party officials for self-purification, self-perfection, self-renewal and self-progression.]

Xi addressing a campaign against undesirable work style in June 2013.

“Mass line” refers to a guideline under which CPC officials and members are required to prioritise the interests of the people and exercise power on their behalf.

Based on arrangements made at the 18th CPC national congress in November 2012, the campaign lasted 16 months from June 2013. But in terms of the party’s priority to cultivate closer ties with the people, as Xi said, it was just a start.

Through the campaign, official meetings were reduced by 586,000, almost 25 per cent fewer than in the period before the campaign began.

More than 160,000 phantom staff members were removed from the government payroll and almost 115,000 vehicles taken out of illicit private use and returned to exclusive regular government affairs. Construction of 2,580 unnecessary official buildings was stopped.

Cage of regulations

Power should be restricted by the cage of regulations.

Xi addressing a plenary meeting of the CPC’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection on 22 January 2013.

To better the institution-building of the CPC, various documents have been adopted since its 18th national congress.

A plan to deepen institutional reforms on party building was approved by the party’s core leadership, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

At the sixth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee last November, an updated norm of political life and a regulation on intra-party supervision was approved. The two important documents were implemented in January 2016

Yang Xiuzhu, centre, being escorted by police at Beijing capital international airport on 16 November 2016. China’s most wanted fugitive, who had been on the run for 13 years, came back and turned herself into the authorities, according to the Communist Party of China’s disciplinary watchdogCredit:
Xinhua

Hunting tigers, swatting flies

We must uphold the fighting of tigers and flies at the same time, resolutely investigating law-breaking cases of leading officials and also earnestly resolving the unhealthy tendencies and corruption problems which happen all around people.

Xi addressing a plenary meeting of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection on 22 January 2013.

Nearly 1.2 million people have been punished for violating CPC and government rules since November 2012. In total, 240 centrally administered officials have been investigated, with 223 receiving punishments, Wu Yuliang, deputy head of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), said at a news conference on 9 January 2017.

By 31 May 2017, 3,051 fugitives, including 41 listed in an Interpol red notice, had been extradited or returned from more than 90 countries and regions since 2014, with assets worth about 9.1 billion yuan ($1.3bn) recovered, according to the website of the CCDI.

Caption 1: Huang Danian, a geophysicist who returned to China seven years ago from Britain and contributed greatly to deep earth exploration technology, died of bile duct cancer at the age of 58 in January. [Photo/Xinhua]

Caption 2: Meng Rouyu, now a junior high-school girl, in fields on 7 May 2017, right, and on 16 July 2012 in Nongyong village, Dahua county, in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region of southern China. [Photo/Xinhua]

Caption 3: The first party unit consisting of online celebrity members was set up on Douyu, an online live streaming platform, on 30 June 2017. [Photo by Peng Nian/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Caption 4: Villagers using the e-government service in Suning, in the northern Chinese province of Hebei province, on 2 June 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Caption 5: Top Communist Party of China (CPC) and state leaders Xi Jinping, centre, Li Keqiang, third right, Zhang Dejiang, third left, Yu Zhengsheng, second right, Liu Yunshan, second left, Wang Qishan, first right, and Zhang Gaoli, first left, attend the sixth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, in Beijing. The meeting was held on 24-27 October 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Caption 6: Yang Xiuzhu, centre, being escorted by police at Beijing capital international airport on 16 November 2016. China’s most wanted fugitive, who had been on the run for 13 years, came back and turned herself into the authorities, according to the Communist Party of China’s disciplinary watchdog. [Photo/Xinhua]

This article was originally produced and published by China Daily. View the original article at www.chinadaily.com